Aurender integrated streamer/DACs

I am using the N200 with a Lab 12 DAC 1 Reference and it REALLY sounds good.  This unit was proof positive that good digital starts at the source, the modern day transport... the streamer.   

I can't even imagine what it would take dollar wise for an analog set up that sounds this good.  Big $$$$

The combo sounds anything but digital.  It's the first source that I just kick back and don't even try to dissect....  music just flows out of my speakers.    Wish I had the means to put a system like this together 20 years ago!   Would have saved a lot of time and money.   

@mhwilliford 

Given your budget, there are so many options. Conventional wisdom says to take the separate route which gives you complete flexibility with upgrades down the road. On the other hand, if you’re shopping in $15K range, you must look at DAC’s with streaming card or client are catching up to separates. They also gives you the flexibility to use an external streamer. Weiss is one of them, there are others like Bricasti, Merging Technologies and Grimm Audio. The performance of streaming in aforementioned brands gotten so good that external streamer like N200 will only yield marginal improvements. It is also worth pointing out, the DAC’s with onboard streaming client eliminates the need for a high quality USB, SPDIF/AES cables plus extra power cord. 

Based on my experience of owning ultra high end separates- $37K retail, my recommendation would be to choose a manufacturer that has excelled at DAC tech. This is where you’re going to get the most return for your buck. I’m not saying source is not important but DAC performance carries more weight in my experience. I am a long time Aurender user and always owned separates but this new category of DAC first with onboard Streamer client is fast approaching the performance of separates. I ditched the separates and went with a very high resolution DAC that allows me to use Aurender via Ethernet and as a bonus has ROON Core + Renderer on board. No need to maintain separate NUC or laptop to run roon core. I get to enjoy both ROON and Aurender seamlessly over my network.

And lastly, streaming is not plug n play. Network optimization is just as important. More on that later once you’ve chosen your DAC and Streamer/Server. 

This is a great time to jump into digital streaming, lots of excellent choices. My “Digital’ system is listed under my moniker. PM me if you wish to discuss further. 

Very interested to learn more about this as it seems like it might be the "right" way to approach a one-box solution - that is to say if the DAC is the more influential component on sound, then begin with that, then add streaming.  So let's say we have the Weiss 502 connected to the network via ethernet as an example.  Where does the Roon Core reside?

Where would my ripped library reside?  My first thought was this would still be on my PC, but the information would be passed to the DAC via ethernet rather than USB, but Weiss says you can simply connect to ethernet and run Roon.  That implies to me that some sort of Roon Core must be present in the Weiss unit, even if it only allows streaming.  I do not have a huge CD collection, but I would like to have access to those CDs that I prefer over their streamed counterparts.  Please let me know what you know.  I am also going to post this to the forum in case others have thoughts.  Thanks!

Another thought/question for those with Aurender experience.  Again assuming the separates route, why not consider the Aurender ACS10?  Looking at the specs, it seems to utilize the same cached playback and USB/LAN isolation as the A and N series, with built-in ripping and massive storage.  Smaller screen, yes, but really I only want to be able to glance up at that see the critical data and recognize the cover art...and even that really isn't so important to me as I am guessing Conductor will provide that same information.

And this brings me to another Conductor question; does anyone have Android experience?  Yes, I do have an iPhone, but I like a larger screen experience when scrolling through my album collection.  We do have an older iPad that I could dedicate to this purpose, but I've also considered getting an Android-based laptop/tablet as I also enjoy photography and would like to have a portable platform for Photoshop/Lightroom.

Thanks everyone for the knowledge-sharing - much appreciated.

Mark

@mhwilliford

The Weiss 502 would be one of those one box solution with a more emphasis on digital to analog conversion. It is also a Roon ready device (renderer) which means you need to have a separate device like ROON Nucleus or a laptop on your network to run ROON core. Either of these devices can also serve as a storage for your CD rips. Since both 502 and Nucleus or laptop are on same network, they will interact with each to provide full functionality of ROON system and playback of any stored files seamlessly.

If you go ROON route, the choice of external device that stores Core and music files becomes critical as most devices need a Linear Power Supply for best performance unless you use a laptop (not recommended due to laptop being inherently noisy). I believe you can easily put together NUC with a very nice LPS under $1200 plus the cost of Ethernet cables and power cords. I have a limited knowledge on ROON Core options so I am counting on others to weigh in. 

Alternatively, you can bypass ROON renderer in 502 and get N200 that has onboard storage option for music files. You will use either USB or SPDIF for direct connectivity to 502.

If you don’t want to mess with external ROON core or N200, then consider Grimm Audio MU1 or Merging Technologies +player. Both devices are all in one DAC/Roon Core + Renderer players. As far storage, MU1 comes with optional storage and you can hook up a external portable SSD storage directly into +player.

Hope this helps!